What is White Supremacism?

White supremacism is defined in many ways by different people and institutions. Much of the social research on the topic focuses on its harmful effects, often without clearly describing what “it” actually is. Public discourse frequently frames it in terms of activist aspirations or defensive posturing, leading to confusion about what is meant by concepts like white supremacy, privilege, or racism. Many discussions leap directly into condemnation without first laying out precisely what is being addressed.

Contemporary understandings of white supremacy also differ from older interpretations of the term. To meaningfully engage with the topic, it is essential to ask: what is white supremacism? One approach is to consider it in its definitional and psychosocial sense: as a set of interrelated ideological, institutional, and cultural patterns among white-identified people, including distinctive norms, values, and behaviors—such as high-trust impersonal cooperation, empirical rationality, merit-based achievement, future-oriented time preferences, emphasis on nuclear family structures, rule of law, and technological mastery—that historically and functionally produce superior outcomes in stability, innovation, prosperity, continuity, and overall flourishing for white people.

This perceived or functional superiority underpins the view that white-majority societies have a legitimate interest in preserving these optimized conditions. Such preservation is often pursued through separation, demographic continuity, restricted proximity to other groups, or in-group prioritization, rather than through governance, assimilation, or close integration with people of color (POC).